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Jill Evans

@jillrevans.bsky.social

I research and write about the history of crime and punishment in Gloucestershire, England. Author of 5 local history books. Website: www.gloscrimehistory.uk. E-mail jevans.gloscrime@btinternet.com

329 Posts717 Follower517 Folgt
History and Heritage Yorkshire@handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 14h ago

Just a short distance from me is the town of Halifax, world famous for its Piece Hall, Shibden Hall, the home of Anne Lister and not least of all the Halifax Gibbet or guillotine. What? you ask. France wasn't the only place to have them. Halifax's version shown below in

The Halifax Gibbett featured a 15-foot-tall wooden frame with a heavy wooden block holding an axe-shaped blade that slid down vertical grooves using a rope-and-pulley mechanism, all mounted on a raised stone platform. Operating under local "Gibbet Law" within the Manor of Wakefield and the Forest of Hardwick, it was used from the late 13th century (first recorded in 1286) until 1650 to summarily execute thieves caught with stolen goods valued at 13½ pence or more.
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 4d ago

Richard Ruddle was murdered by Andrew Burnett and Henry Payne in November 1743, during a highway robbery. Burnett and Payne were tried at Gloucester and hanged then gibbeted at Durdham Down, Bristol on 22 March 1743/4.

Weird Bristol@weirdbristol.bsky.social · 5d ago

The grounds of Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym are home to the grave of Richard Ruddle - the man believed to be the last person in England to be murdered by highwaymen. Read his shocking story in WEIRD BRISTOL: TRUE CRIME. Available now. amzn.eu/d/09zN15vf

Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · last wk.

Bonfire Night in Gloucestershire, 1863: Boys steal a barrel of tar belonging to Lord Sherborne and burn it on a bonfire. They are remanded to Northleach Prison, but Lady Sherborne arrives in her carriage to have them released. (Cheltenham Journal, 14 Nov 1863. Image via British Newspaper Archive)

NORTHLEACH POLICE iNTELLIGENCE.- Thirteen lads of Sherborne were brought up in custody of Mr. Supt. Seys, and P.C.s Basson and Boulton, before H. E. Waller, Esq., at Farmington, on Monday last, charged with having, on the night of the 5th inst., stolen from a field at Sherborne, a barrel containing about 20 gallons of tar (the property of the Right Hon. Lord Sherborne), which they rolled through the street, and afterwards burnt in a bonfire. Mr Winham, his lordship's builder, appeared to prosecute. It appeared that five of the lads did not assist in taking the barrel, and they were at once discharged; the other eight were all remanded to Northleach prison until the petty sessions on the 18th inst. The same evening Lady Sherborne arrived at the prison, in her carriage, with an order of discharge, and thereupon the whole of them were liberated.
Kate Griffin@griffinkate.bsky.social · 3w ago

eBay users! Don't ignore today's email, even though it looks like a boring standard update to the User Privacy Notice. They want to use your data to train AI models. If you click the link over the words "the right to object", it takes you to a page with a toggle button letting you opt out.

Screenshot from a section of eBay UK's r User Privacy Notice. It reads: AI model training When training, testing, and improving generative AI models, we rely primarily on publicly available data. Some public datasets may incidentally include personal data, and in some cases we may also use certain user personal data, such as information about your use of our Services, including the items you list, sell, view, or buy, where we determine it is necessary and proportionate for a specific use (for example, to train AI models that improve product recommendations). Prior to training, we take steps to mitigate potential privacy impacts, such as de-identifying the data or applying other privacy-preserving techniques. In some jurisdictions, the data used for training as described in this section is not considered personal data; where our AI training does involve personal data as defined under applicable law, including in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, the legal basis of our legitimate interest is set out in section 3.4. See section 6 for more details on your rights. To learn more about specific training use cases and our processing of your personal data for generative AI training purposes, including the right to object to such processing for certain users, visit our Artificial Intelligence at eBay page.
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · last mo.

On 27 August 1864, Gloucester held its last public execution, when murderer Lewis Gough was hanged on the gatehouse roof of the prison. The Gloucestershire Chronicle commented that Gloucester had been spared a similar 'disgrace' for more than a quarter of a century. (1/2)

THE CONDEMNED PRISONER LEWIS GOUGH. After having spared a similar disgrace for more than a quarter of a century, Gloucester is this (Saturday) morning to be the scene of a public execution. On the 20th April, 1839, William Davis was led pinioned to the scaffold over the lodge at the County Prison, and there met his death; he had murdered a man at Durdham Down, in order that he might possess himself of his victim's watch. Two years before that Charles Samuel Bartlett died on the same scaffold for the murder of a relative. And looking back at the records of a few...[rest of article not copied]
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Alphabetical index of prisoners hanged in Gloucestershire between 1722 and 1790 is now available on my website. Did one of your ancestors come to an unpleasant end? gloscrimehistory.uk/alphabetical...

Alphabetical list of prisoners hanged, 1722-1790

Prisoners are listed in alphabetical order, with the year of their execution. For more information on a particular prisoner, go to the chronological list of executions and look under the relevant y…

gloscrimehistory.uk

Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A correction in the Cheltenham Chronicle, 6 Oct 1836: At the end of a police report, a note was added that in the previous week's report, the names of 3 policemen had been given instead of 3 people convicted of intoxication. Oops! (Image via British Newspaper Archive.)

[In our report last week, the names of three policemen named Thomas Trigg, Robert Green, and Daniel Browning, were inserted instead of the names of three persons convicted of intoxication.]
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I do love an Illustrated Police News sketch! This one depicts a brawl in Tetbury, Gloucestershire in 1878, which resulted in one young man being fatally stabbed and another sentenced to 12 years penal servitude for manslaughter. (IPN, 10 Aug 1878, via British Newspaper Archive)

Black and white sketch showing eight men fighting, one knocked to the ground. One older, worried-looking man at the rear of a building entrance which has a sign saying 'FINE ALES' at top left hand corner. Caption at bottom reads 'ALLEGED MURDER AT TETBURY'.
Alison Fisk@alisonfisk.bsky.social · 2mo ago

About 1,000 years ago, this ‘Tables’ game board was smashed up with an axe and thrown into a rubbish pit at Gloucester Castle! 🪓 😳 Ancient evidence perhaps of a sore loser!? 😂 Ironically it is the world’s oldest surviving complete tables set! Gloucester Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows the circa 1,000 year-old Gloucester 'Tables' game set. The set consists of 24 obelisk-shaped bone strips with pointed ends, and a bone panel border, which were originally inlaid onto a wooden base which has not survived, together with thirty disc-shaped bone counters (not all shown in my photo). The bone inlays are decorated with carved interlace and ring-and-dot patterns. Each game counter is intricately carved and decorated with a human or animal figure. The tables set is displayed on a sandy surface in a museum display case at Gloucester Museum. Tables is an early version of backgammon. It is the oldest complete tables set in the world
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A photo in the Gloucester Citizen (21 April 1931) of Inspector Alan Bent, who retired from the Gloucestershire Police in 1931. His surname made me laugh, but when, I wonder, did the term 'bent copper' come into use in the UK? (Image via British Newspaper Archive)

Black and white photograph of a police officer, facing to right, wearing a peaked cap with chinstrap and sporting a moustache. Headline reads: POPULAR POLICE OFFICER TO RETIRE. Text underneath photo reads: Inspector Alan Bent, of Coleford, who is retiring after 30 years service in the Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 3mo ago

For International Cat Day, here is a tenuous link in the form of a story about a suspected cat burglar operating in Gloucester, from the Gloucestershire Echo, 2 Jan 1935 (Image from British Newspaper Archive).

CAR BURGLAR THEORY Glo'ster Greyhound Track Manager's House Rifled When Mr. John Charles Morgan, of Oxstall's-road, Gloucester, the manager of the Gloucester and Cheltenham Greyhound Track, and his wife and family were attending a meeting at the track an intruder broke into his house. It is thought that he climbed up a drainpipe and entered through a bedroom window. He ransacked the whole house, turning out drawers, trunks, wardrobes and other receptacles. When Mr. and Mrs. Morgan returned home they found the house in a disordered condition, and some money and a gold watch missing, and they immediately notified the police. Despite his search, the burglar missed £20 in notes which were in a handbag. He apparently opened the bag and threw it on the floor without noticing that there were notes inside.
Jill Evans@jillrevans.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Found in the Horsley House of Correction registers: 4 people committed in October 1825 for being rogues and vagabonds and carrying 'instruments of gaming' in Tetbury (Glos) called Black & White Cock, Hap-Hazard, Gold & Silver Lottery and Teetotum. A variety of ways for folk to lose their money!